Off To Seattle
I’m off to the airport to spend two weeks in Seattle. Not sure if I’m going to update the site while I”m gone, so in case you don’t hear from me: Happy Holidays and here’s to a terrific new year!
2007
Is Lisa a Supertaster?
Many of you who’ve read my book have asked if Lisa, star of Chapter Three, is a Supertaster. You ask because Lisa abhors coffee and olives and her sensitivity to these foods makes her a likely candidate for Supertaster status. Since it was Lisa’s birthday recently, I contacted Doug Cress who administers The Supertaster Test and asked him to send me a sample. He kindly did (a few samples, actually) and I brought them with me to Lisa’s apartment after our dinner at Kefi (see below). The following video, then, finally sheds light on the mystery of Lisa’s tastebuds. To make it even more dramatic, I’d tasted a strip and barely tasted anything and Craig didn’t taste anything at all. And so, without further ado, here’s Lisa and the supertaster test:
Kefi
I knew I was going to love Kefi and I did.
After signing books at Best Cellars on the Upper West Side on Friday night, my dear pal Lisa (who lives up there now) joined me for the two block walk over to Kefi. “This is supposed to be great,” I told her. “Really good Greek food for not very much money.”
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Potato Puree
Please ignore the short rib in the above photo and focus on the cloud of white beneath it. That, my friends, is what we in the cooking industry (or the food blogging industry) call a potato puree. It’s a blend of riced potato innards (Yukon Gold & russets), two sticks of butter, heated cream and milk.
We owe this recipe to Suzanne Goin and her “Sunday Suppers at Lucques” which caused us some consternation two weeks ago when it almost killed us with melted plastic.
But my friend Jimmy was coming over for dinner last Sunday and I wanted to impress: so I turned to page 301 for Suzanne’s “Braised Beef Short Ribs with Potato Puree.” The rib recipe was fairly typical: brown in oil, aromatize with onion, carrot and celery, and deglaze with red wine and stock (plus, here, port and balsamic vinegar). The end result was scrumptious and comforting in this cold weather, but my heart belonged to the potato puree.
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Excitement & Needling
Yesterday was a big day for your friend The Amateur Gourmet. What happened? I can’t tell you yet and it’s not entirely clear what the future holds, but I promise to share more in January. Sorry for being a tease!
In the mean time, don’t forget to donate to Menu For Hope IV. I noticed many of you bid on the dinner at Blue Hill at Stone Barns (UE01) but very few of you bid on an autographed copy of my book and an authentically made Amateur Gourmet pastry (UE02). What does that say about your allegiance, loyal reader? Must you stomp on my ego as you raise money for charity? Show a little compassion, will you? Happy holidays!
Rachel Wharton’s Bodega Beans
Monday night I went to a friend’s play reading that let out at 9:30. I was starved. I considered grabbing a bite (I was in the No Man’s Land of 35th and 8th Ave.) but then I decided I’d head home and grab a can of chickpeas from the bodega and make bodega hummus. (See here).
As fate would have it, though, on the subway I ran into the unmistakable, inimitable Rachel Wharton of The Daily News who I journeyed to Queens with this summer. Rachel has a degree in food from NYU, so I put her to the test: “Rachel,” I said, “I want to make a quick easy dinner with something I can get from my corner bodega.”
“Beans,” she answered.
“Beans?”
“Yes,” she continued. “Beans. I ate beans all through college. With some onion, garlic, or whatever you have, they’re delicious.”
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How To Make Latkes
Hanukkah may be over today, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to make latkes. If you’ve never made latkes before, may I suggest you do so tonight?
It’s pretty easy and pretty rewarding. Granted, it’s not guiltless food: eating a bunch of latkes is basically equivalent to eating a bunch of french fries, so you may want to serve them on a treadmill with a side of personal trainer. But holiday time is about treating yourself, isn’t it, and when was the last time you tre
[THIS POST HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED BY A FAN WHO JUST APPROACHED ME AT THE COFFEE SHOP WHERE I AM WRITING THIS. SHE SAYS SHE’S BEEN READING ME FOR A LONG TIME, THAT SHE’S A GEOGRAPHY TEACHER AND THAT SHE LIVES IN BUFFALO. I TOLD HER THAT I AM TERRIBLE AT GEOGRAPHY, THAT I REALLY DIDN’T KNOW WHETHER PHILADELPHIA WAS NORTH OR SOUTH OF NEW YORK, AND SHE GAVE ME A PITYING LOOK.]
Where was I? Oh yes, latkes. Let’s continue below, shall we?
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